‘My hunch is’ - Simon Jordan gives frank verdict on Peter Kenyon’s Everton-led takeover bid

Simon Jordan has claimed that Peter Kenyon's Everton-led takeover should be taken 'with a pinch of salt'.

Kenyon, the former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive, is spearheading an American consortium interesting in purchasing the Toffees from Farhad Moshiri.

Involved in the group are US businessmen John Thornton and Maciek Kaminski.

Moshiri, Everton's majority shareholder, injected a further £100 million into the club in January to take his controlling stake to 94%. He first invested into the club in 2016.

The Blues have spent more than £500 million in transfer fees under the Iranian, while they're in the process of building their new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium which will also cost at least £500 million.

What’s been said

Jordan, speaking on talkSPORT, believes that a potential takeover doesn't mean good or bad news for Everton.

The former Crystal Palace chairman said: "He [Kenyon] is connected and will have a lot of people around him who have money and may well be interested in football clubs.

“Whether Everton are in play, that's for Farhad Moshiri to determine.

“Peter finds out where a deal can be done and finds out who can fund it.

“If someone knocks on your door to buy your house and you can charge them twice the price for it, talks will be positive until someone has to write a cheque. Then talks become less positive, we'll see how this plays out.

“For Everton, it doesn't necessarily mean good or bad news because no-one can argue Moshiri isn't prepared to back the decisions he makes.

“The challenge is to get him to make the right decisions. Whether [Frank] Lampard will be the right decision, we will see but he's backed it and bought players and committed huge revenues to Everton.

“The challenge is now that Everton still have the spectre of financial fair play hanging above them. Next season, they go into a regulated environment where they can't buy and sell like most Premier League clubs.

“They've got to account for what they're doing and get the Premier League's board's permission to make

“That won't change with ownership. Whether there's a deal to buy Moshiri out or to come alongside him and put some money in from an American investment point of view is a different discussion.

“I would take, with the best respect in the world - which means very little - what Peter Kenyon says with a pinch of salt.”

‘My hunch is Moshiri will be the owner of Everton’

American investor Todd Boehly recently purchased Chelsea from Roman Abramovich.

Meanwhile, Liverpool (Fenway Sports Group), Arsenal (Stan Kroenke), Manchester United (the Glazier family), Leeds United (49ers Enterprises), Aston Villa (Wesley Edens) and relegated Burnley (ALK Capital) are among others who have US-based owners.

Jordan feels that Moshiri will remain at Goodison Park in some capacity even if Kenyon’s group invest.

He added: “There is no doubt, good or bad, Moshiri has been incredibly committed to Everton.

“Some of the decisions he made should have got him committed because they aren't the best decisions for Everton.

“Here we are, six years in, American ownership models are interested in UK football because they see the opportunity and changes.

“Do I think it's a good thing? Possibly, possibly not. We've seen a leveraged buy-out at Burnley, which isn't great.

“It's not a Burnley-type deal but no-one has been able to answer this question as they're not prepared to do so.

“When Chelsea were bought, it was with a whole series of investment money which will want a return on its money.

“Somewhere along the line, if you're going to service people buying football clubs it's because they want decent returns or other businesses to get some benefit of association with it, which may not be in the best interest of football.

“In this instance, if Everton have other people interested in them then it's another interesting story for the Premier League.

“My hunch is there’s nothing - Moshiri will be the owner of Everton.

“Possibly (they might buy into Everton) if Moshiri wants to take some of the pain out of it, because there’s no doubt there’s pain in there.”